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1 1 (March 11, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveooc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ R ~Fesearch Service Overview of the Using Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act of 2023 (H.R. 6276) March 11, 2024 The Using Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act (H.R. 6276) was reported, with amendments, by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on February 13, 2024. The bill would require certain federal agencies to track and report on the occupancy and utilization rates of buildings they lease and own. The bill would also require agencies to reduce unused space in buildings that do not meet a utilization rate of 60% over time, including through the consolidation of department and agency headquarters buildings. Background In an effort to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus in 2020, federal agencies began operating under maximum telework policies, which permitted many government employees to work from home. An October 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that daily building utilization remained well below capacity during the first three months of 2023. Specifically, GAO found that 17 of the 24 agencies that are subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 had utilization rates of less than 25% in their headquarters buildings, and the other seven had an average utilization rate of 36%. Reliable pre-pandemic utilization rates are generally not available for comparison. GAO reported that increased telework was a major factor in reducing agencies' building utilization rates as compared to pre-pandemic levels, along with inefficient office configurations and long-standing problems managing unneeded space. GAO also noted that there are no government-wide benchmarks for how agencies should measure building utilization, including a lack of standards for targets such as full utilization. Overview of H.R. 6276 Section 1 provides that the short title of the bill is the USE IT Act of 2023. Section 2 establishes that the bill would apply to the 24 agencies subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990. These agencies control approximately 98% of federal real property. It defines four key terms that covered agencies would use when reporting on federally owned or leased building space: Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12329 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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